Transportation & Logistics

Hanson Bridgett possesses a wide variety of experienced general transportation and logistics attorney-practitioners, representing both privately and publicly-owned companies for their particular distribution and supply-chain requirements. The firm is counsel to a broad and diverse range of domestic and international commercial carriers, including motor, water, rail, passenger, air cargo and household goods companies. In addition to direct suppliers and users of such services, Hanson Bridgett regularly assists local and national third-party brokers, intermediaries and full-service logistics enterprises with litigation, transactional, and contractual matters. The scope of services for the transportation clientele served by the firm includes: mergers and acquisitions; contractual relationships; comprehensive service contracts; risk management mitigation; business structures and management; successorship planning; financings; security and credit arrangements; insurance coverage; regulatory compliance; real estate development, sales and due diligence; and, other business-related resources essential to participants in this dynamic industry. Likewise, litigation activity regularly includes: freight loss and damage claims; contract construction and interpretation; freight payment disputes; environmental laws and compliance; creditor’s rights; defense of state and agency enforcement actions related to environmental, equipment and clean air initiatives; and, labor disputes, including defense of class actions designed to challenge independent contractor status, all of which are consistent with the types of domestic and international transportation disputes which often occur between transportation companies or as a result of government intervention at all levels.

The firm’s transportation clients represent a cross-section of specialty carriers such as: less-than-truckload; package; truckload general freight; liquid and dry bulk; agriculture; passenger (bus, limousine, airport shuttle, taxi, and public transit carriers); water; air cargo; foreign and domestic ground, air and ocean freight forwarders; rail and bus commute; transportation brokers; warehouses; and passenger ferries. Within the public agency section, the firm represents a number of public transit agencies, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District, BART, SamTrans, Caltrain and other major districts throughout the country.